Anthropic’s Claude finds CRISPR-like DNA repeats in bacteriophage, but function remains unknown
Anthropic’s AI model Claude identified a repeating DNA pattern in a bacteriophage genome that resembles CRISPR, a gene-editing tool. The discovery sits beside a reverse transcriptase gene, hinting at potential utility but no confirmed function. Eric Kauderer-Abrams, head of life sciences at Anthropic, and researcher Nicholas Perry led the work, emphasizing that Claude’s role was exploratory—not…
Key points
- Claude discovered a CRISPR-like DNA repeat pattern in a bacteriophage genome, adjacent to a reverse transcriptase gene
- Anthropic researchers say the function of this sequence remains unknown, despite its potential utility
- Claude completed the analysis in a day, saving weeks-to-months of human effort, according to the team
Claude’s search used a generic prompt to scan DNA sequences near reverse transcriptase genes, uncovering noncoding RNA repeats unique to ‘jumbo phages.’ The team estimates Claude completed the analysis in a day, compared to weeks or months for human scientists. Anthropic plans to share the finding with the research community, aiming to accelerate functional research. The project is part of a broader effort to use AI to speed up biological discovery, though Kauderer-Abrams stressed that ‘finding’ is only the first step—‘understanding’ and tool development remain critical.
Claude just found a CRISPR-like DNA pattern, but even Anthropic's scientists aren't sure what it does
scientificamerican.com · 14 October 2026
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